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Terry Downes, the former world middleweight boxing champion who has died aged 81, was Britain’s most popular fighter in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and he built up a tremendous following with his whirlwind, non-stop punching style.

Downes – who had adopted the aggressive, two-fisted American style of boxing during a four-year stint in the US Marines – invariably performed a flamboyant, limbering-up “war dance” in the corner before his bouts which British fans loved.

“I’m in the ring to entertain,” he said. “If I wanted to do a slow fox-trot I’d go to a dance hall.”